Championship competition made a welcome return to the Bangor Sportsplex over the weekend when the Northern Ireland Combined events Championships were held. Despite stormy intelrudes on Saturday and very strong winds on Sunday, which caused the cancellation of the vault, the events went well and there was a good atmosphere with the stadium staff being very helpful. North Down had a good weekend with three medals. Elleana Hamilford-Hull was 3rd in the U13 girls pentathlon, an event dominated by a talented English visitor but in which Elleana led the big domestic field up to the final 800m. In the U17 boys octathlon Matthew Stockton capitalised on his throws expertise and Stephen Loughlin on his jumping ability, to finish 2nd and 3rd overall. Along with another club entrant Gareth Lyness they were dominant in the final 1500m which included seniors. Other club competitors in the various pentathlons were Sophie Cree at U13, Andrew Kennedy at U15 and Alex Catherwood and Ellen Robinson at U15. Regent House girls Barbara Moles and Clare Robinson train with the North Down squad and were 2nd and 3rd in the U17 heptathlon.
